trust – Page 3 – Gospel Minutes for Everyday Missionaries

April 19, 2018

My Dad and David

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The Sunday after Easter, my family and friends of my mom and dad gathered for a memorial for my dad. Mom has a certificate that says he died two weeks earlier, but we know that he was healed on that day and is more alive than ever. But this was not a certain conclusion – it was a nail-biter up until the end. I thought about this again this last Sunday when Martin spoke on David’s struggle in Psalm 139.

Dad was what the world would call a good man. Generations of kids remember him as the man who would make time for them and play with them, often when their own dads were gone or too busy. He retired from the Navy after 20 years serving on ships including the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany. He served on the ground in Vietnam, and those memories haunted him until Alzheimer’s took all of his memories away.

The father I knew as a child took me to church. I even found a picture of him sitting at home reading his Bible. Dad was not an “up front” kind of person who was comfortable speaking in public, but I have a distinct memory of him standing in church at a Sunday evening service and testifying about what God was doing in his life. I don’t remember the content, but the image is clear. I also remember how we would mercilessly tease him about his off-key singing voice that I heard in church. I would love to hear that voice again!

However, he was haunted by secrets. No one knows what they were, but he occasionally would give us a glimpse by saying they were too awful to be forgiven. He ran from God and tried to hide. For most of his adult life he let the guilt of something keep him from knowing the peace of God’s forgiveness. This caused in me uncertainty – not about whether God would reject me, but about whether I could reject Him. I was somewhere between the Arminian and Calvinist positions and I was certain Dad needed to know where he stood. But he would not talk to us about it.

As awful as Alzheimer’s is, with the mental, emotional and physical destruction it causes, we have to see it as a blessing for my dad. The disease broke down his resistance until someone (who I believe was led by the Spirit) challenged him to make a conscious decision about his standing with God. Dad followed that up the next Sunday by responding to an altar call, and finally found the forgiveness that had always been waiting for him. Not long after, he made a public declaration of his faith while being baptized.

David sinned greatly, but he recognized he could not run from his sin. He repented. He was a man after God’s own heart because he chose to repent and receive forgiveness. I have the hope we get through the Gospel that my dad is in heaven with Jesus. Because he bowed his knee in this life, he was given new life. It didn’t have to end this way. He could have kept running, and the outcome would have been unthinkable. I wish he had chosen sooner – 40 years sooner – but the dad I loved did finally choose, and it is well.

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April 12, 2018April 13, 2018

Walking Away Sad

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By Hannah Comerford

Through the white picture-frame windows, closed by curlicue latches, I can see a short iron gate, bushes and hedges in various shades of green, and a tree bare from winter and covered in ivy. Birds sing. I have tea at my desk. I’m sitting in the home of C. S. Lewis, my hero of both the faith and literature. This room once belonged to his stepson, Douglas Gresham, and now I’m living here for two weeks.

It’s all more than I could have hoped for.

But what if I could give it all up? What if I could turn back the time, drop out of the master’s program I’ve worked so hard to be a part of, give up every precious experience I’m gaining in this beautiful land? I would do this all and more for the one thing I’ve desired for years.

The rich young man in the Gospel of Matthew asked, “What must I do to obtain eternal life?” He left sorrowful because the price was too high.

My problem isn’t so much with price. Through deaths of loved ones, loss of health, and multiple moves, I am not as scared to give things up as I once was. Nor do I have a problem seeing what I can do for eternal life, for I know that, as a believer in Christ’s death and resurrection and payment for my sins, I already have eternal life.

No, my question is both more and less holy. On bad days, I see the children others have been given and ask, “What must I give to become a mother?”

If I give up my career as an editor, my journey toward a master’s degree, the health I’ve worked to maintain, would I then be able to earn this privilege? Perhaps I haven’t prayed hard enough or long enough. Maybe I just need to hurry up and learn the lesson God has for me so He can finally bless me.

My namesake prayed to the Lord and received a son, the prophet Samuel. Why did God answer her and not me? Was it because she bargained with God, promising to give up her child to be a servant in the temple if only the Lord would provide the infant? If I, too, bargain, will I obtain what I seek?

On these bad days, I walk away sad, for I cannot obtain the prize I so desperately want.

The rich young man and I have different questions, yet our problem is the same: we don’t recognize the true prize. It is not eternal life or motherhood or any other blessing—those are gifts given freely above and beyond our life with God.

The true prize was sitting in front of the rich young man. The answer lay in the heart behind Hannah’s prayer in the temple. And it’s free to me and to all believers in Christ.

The rich young man left sad because he failed to see that a relationship with Christ was worth more than all his possessions—and even more than eternal life. Hannah received her answer to prayer because her ultimate goal wasn’t just to be a mother; she wanted the opportunity to worship the Lord by giving Him an offering worth more than the mandatory sacrificial lambs. If she had valued her son more than the Lord, she would not have kept her promise. Instead, she took her blessing as an opportunity to praise the Lord through sacrifice and prayer.

When you’re in love with a person, you’re willing to give up your time, money, and plans in order to be with them. As a wife, you hold dear the engagement ring your husband gave you, but you would give it up if it could somehow save your beloved’s life. Your relationship with the person is worth far more than what they give you.

When we place our ultimate hope, love, and satisfaction in the Lord, we can recognize that anything more than a relationship with Him is like that engagement ring—added grace, blessings from the kind heart of a Father. We can enjoy these things because we know they are gifts from our Father, but we can also willingly lay them down, for they are not the source of our joy.

Perhaps, like I do, you long for a good thing that God hasn’t chosen to give you. Or perhaps God has blessed you with the desires of your heart—family, health, financial provision, etc. Maybe you’re worried that these desires, whether fulfilled or not, can become more desirable than Jesus, that you will become the rich young man. Take heart! As the young man left, Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. . . . With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

On the bad days when we long for things more than we long for Christ, and on the good days when we find our joy in our relationship with Christ first and in His blessings second, may our prayer continue to be that God would do the miraculous and make our hearts long after Him.

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March 8, 2018March 13, 2018

I Don’t See That!

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By Brian Sharpe, Senior Associate Pastor

I have gone to the gym a lot in my adult life. Most of this time has been spent playing basketball. I have seen a lot of guys play basketball and I have played against a lot of different people. I will always remember one guy. He had the right shoes, shorts, and shirt. He wore a sleeve on his arm and a headband like NBA players. He had all the right gear and the confidence that went with someone who could play basketball well. The problem was he was not good at basketball. Not good at all! People would wait out games so that they wouldn’t have to play with him.

I once tried to talk to him and help him be a better team player, but he wanted nothing to do with me. He knew how to play and didn’t want to hear from anyone. I felt so bad for this guy because he was so unaware. He didn’t want help.

I want to be a person who is known for listening to my mentors. I want to be known as someone who is willing to learn from my mistakes. Humility, self-control, and meekness are things that God wants to be part of the outworking of our faith. As He changes our inner being, our interactions with others will change.

We all have blind spots we are unaware of, and if we don’t surround ourselves with people we can hear from, we will never know what these blind spots are. The hard part is giving people the freedom to speak into our blind spots. God calls us to be meek. The word meek carries the idea of a horse that has been broken. The horse is powerful but is under control.

God has called us to be people who are under control. One of the ways we are under control is if we are allowing the Spirit of God through circumstance, spiritual mentors, and friends to point out these blind spots, and we are willing to deal with them.

I find that people want to know about their blind spots, but they aren’t sure what to do with what they now know. Most people are moved to inaction. Change is hard! But we all must change. We all must allow our blind spots to be pointed out. If we don’t, then our growth will be stunted.

Do you have a or Paul or Barnabas in your life, people you allow to point out your blind spots? When they do point out bind spots, are you willing to listen to them? Are you willing to act on them? Trust is shown by one’s ability to act on advice given. I think a lot of us say we trust, but our actions say otherwise.

My prayer for me and you is that we would trust those whom God has placed in our lives, that we would be open to learning about our blind spots and be moved to action instead of complacency.

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January 25, 2018January 25, 2018

Jesus Doesn’t Want Your Tithe

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by Jeff Foerster

Jesus doesn’t want your tithe … He wants your heart. “Great!” you say, “I think money is unspiritual anyhow, so obviously God, who is spirit, has no use for it. And I am relieved that I get to keep more of my hard-earned pay.”

God owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the Cadillacs in a thousand driveways. Everything in existence is His, not by right of possession only (it does exist inside His universe), but also by right of creation. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being (John 1:3). If Jesus wants something, he certainly could create it—like the fish and bread given to thousands. Obviously God has no need for my stash o’ cash.

Well, not so fast. God wants your heart, but that means more than sending “positive thoughts” His way; it means action. The tithe is not what God is seeking, but it is a vehicle that ushers in a submissive heart before Him.

We engage with money when filling our tank with gasoline, buying a hot latte, paying electric bills, buying foodstuffs, determining tips for waitstaff, supporting government through taxes, working for ourselves or for others, budgeting and stewarding resources, investing for future gains, and so much more. You see, money is an inextricable part of our human experience. We use it, with the danger of it using us. A contemporary philosopher has been quoted as saying, “I got my mind on my money, and my money on my mind.” Our thoughts linger on dreams of multimillion-dollar windfalls from lucky numbers on the next lotto go-round. What comes from this? Thoughts of new cars, vacation homes, luxury travel, a greater dependence upon God? Okay, the last one seems out of place, doesn’t it?

Because of money’s prominent role in our lives, it has power. Seductive power. “Follow me and I will give you whatever you desire! A little more, a little better, a little newer—you deserve nice things! Life will be more satisfying when you’re able to savor all the good gifts I can bring you. Did you think of me today, how we could spend just a little bit more time … together?” The siren song of money has led many to their destruction. Yet, money is simply a tool, wielded by the hand but directed by the heart.

God in His infinite wisdom and magnificent grace has set before us a pathway with sure footing. He knows us; He knows our weaknesses. He knows that money makes either an obedient servant or a tyrannical master. His generous commandment to you to give 10 percent of your income back to Him, off the top, before any expenses, declares your allegiance. It places money in subservience and clears the way for deepening relationship with the Almighty.

Do you honor Him from whom ALL blessings flow? Do you trust Him … with ALL things?

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January 4, 2018January 11, 2018

Sometimes Plans Change …

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By Bill Naron

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed today and I saw a post from one of my favorite blogs. It was an article about things to consider before making New Year’s resolutions. It was an awesome article and the main point was that before making resolutions, we should be asking ourselves where our motivation is coming from. The question was, “Are you being motivated out of selfishness, or out of a heart that has been transformed by the Gospel?” I thought this presentation was very thought-provoking, and it reminded me of when Pastor Martin was preaching out of the book of James.

“Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what [shall be] on the morrow. For what [is] your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye [ought] to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth [it] not, to him it is sin.” James 4:13-17, KJV

So, it got me to pondering: What is the correct posture for us as Christians and as passionate followers of Jesus Christ? What should our response be when it comes to New Year’s resolutions? I would argue that all plans we make long-term or short-term are subject to be changed.

The week of Christmas, I took an extended vacation from work. This vacation was much needed, as the last couple months in the Naron household have just been all kinds of crazy. I had some grand plans about how things were going to go. I had a list that seemed to be a mile long of all the different things I was going to get accomplished: change the oil on the cars, finish building the shed, finish all the laundry, fix some minor things on the cars—and the list went on and on. See, I was looking forward to this vacation, but my plan was to use this time to just get the things that it seems I never have the time for done. I figured I may not get to relax much, but my family will be so happy to have some things done around the house. Recently my in-laws moved in with us, and while it is a great situation for different reasons, it still requires the merging of two households and different schedules. It also means less storage in the house but more items to be stored. So, now the items one would normally store in a shed or in a garage were—and are currently—resting on my back porch. So, when I took vacation, I was determined that all this list was going to get accomplished and that would just be the way it was going to be.

This was all changed as my vacation continued. I spent most of my time hanging out with my wife and investing in my marriage, spending some much-needed time having fun with my children. I was even fortunate enough to get a makeover from my daughters, complete with a manicure and pedicure. It was great! Some things got done—the kids swapped rooms and the shed got finished. It was far less than I had set out to accomplish. So, as I read through the article, I began reflecting on the Scripture above and on my own example of changed plans for my vacation. I had an amazing epiphany: our plans are not set in concrete. See, I think this Scripture is not saying that we cannot make plans at all; I think the idea that James is presenting is that we should always be aware that we are called to serve our Creator, and our plans may not always be His.

What I mean by this is that everything we have been given is a gift from our Father, including our possessions and our time. The Bible says to rejoice, for this is the day that the Lord hath made. So, if all we have is a gift from the Father, it is only sensible that when we are setting goals and making plans, we should be holding to them loosely. They are subject to the “Lord-willing” clause. If the Lord wills, we will be going forward and doing this. This is a posture that is from a heart that has been transformed by the gospel, that understands life is a gift from God, and that recognizes that sometimes, for whatever reasons, God has different plans for us than we have for ourselves. In Jeremiah, it says that He knows the plans He has for us and they are plans to prosper, not to harm.

When I set out to my vacation, my plans were to simply accomplish things that would be for my own benefit. They were not bad things, but they were also things that, though I may not like it to, could wait. There were more important things to be accomplished that week I was off. It had been a crazy and busy two months, it seemed like my wife and I were not connecting, and the kids were feeling out of sorts, trying to adjust to the new way things were around the house. So, instead of organizing the physical items in the house, God’s plan for my vacation was that I would connect with my family.

While I think that it is in our nature to make plans and to work toward executing them, I think the real problem when it comes to things like New Year’s resolutions, or planning in general, is that we have to be striving toward the mindset that Jesus had in His ministry, the same mindset that was shown by the apostles. That is, we should seek what the Lord would have us do, and while things may get planned, we should not hold on to them so tightly that we are not able to be flexible if God decides to change them.

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May 12, 2016May 13, 2016

The Day I Said, “Prove It” to Jesus

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By Nate Champneys

Lately, I have had an “epiphany” of sorts that I would like to share with you. As I have been reading the words of Jesus, the thought has continued to occur to me, “What if Jesus actually meant these things He is saying?” I wrote about one of those moments in my last blog about loving others, but I had another one of these moments as I was reading the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6. I think the Sermon on the Mount is one of the most important statements Jesus ever made as to how we are supposed to live our lives. But I think sometimes we read it like it is poetry, as opposed to hearing it as literal instructions in how we should live. There is so much there, and sometimes we almost seem to think, “Those words sound nice and fluffy and I’m not sure I get it, but I’m just going to keep on reading.”

About every week I take an hour or so and I go to my secret place in the woods at Clark’s Creek Park in Puyallup. It’s just a log up on the mountainside where I spend time sitting, hanging out with Jesus. I ask Him questions. I listen for answers. I write songs. I read the Bible. He always shows up. Every time I go, it’s different, but it’s always good. I was reading in Matthew 6 because I am working on a set of songs based on “The Lord’s Prayer.” So I began to read the Lord’s Prayer, but then continued to the end of the chapter.

Beginning in verse 19, Jesus begins to address the topic of money and possessions. Now, as people who live in the wealthiest nation to ever exist on the face of planet earth, if anyone ever needed to hear what the Son of God has to say about money and possessions, it’s probably us. If I am honest with you, money is probably the thing that my wife and I have had the most conflict over in our marriage. And on this particular morning as I read this passage I felt frustrated. It seemed like lately, money talk had dominated our recent conversations. Jesus talks about the idea of not storing up treasures here on earth and that whatever our treasure is, that this is where our heart will be. Our hearts are tied to what we most value, and because of this inseparable connection between what we treasure and our heart, Jesus says: “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money” (Matthew 6:24). I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Is this me? Is money more important to me and my wife than You, Jesus?”

Now one of the chief reasons I think that we become enslaved to money is that we worry about life and whether there will be enough to take care of our needs. In fear, we want to control our situation. This is why Jesus follows up His words about money enslaving us by talking about worry, and He literally says, “THAT IS WHY I TELL YOU, not to worry about everyday life- whether you have enough food and drink or enough clothes to wear.” “Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly father feeds them. And aren’t you more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” (vv. 25-27)

We have all heard this verse about the birds. I just don’t know if we really believe it. I tend to think, “Well, birds don’t eat as much as the family of six in my house!” 🙂 But Jesus draws this message to a close with this statement: “Your heavenly Father ALREADY knows all your needs. Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Wait a minute: What if Jesus actually meant this? He already knows everything we need and we don’t need to worry?! Our job is to seek our Father first, “above all else,” and He has promised that He will give us what we need.

So sitting there on that log I said, “Jesus, will You prove it? Will You prove this to me?” Now I am not recommending we put God to the test, but honestly, this is where I was at that day. So then I continued to sit on the log and enjoy my time there.

After a few minutes, a little bird came and landed a few feet in front of me, and sat there, looking at me. It then hopped up on the log next to me, picked at something, then flew off. I thought to myself, “Wow, that’s cool. That bird got really close.” I continued to sit and read.

Now in the park there are lots of people around, and so you hear interesting sounds from time to time. I started to hear a sound up in the woods behind me, like somebody striking rocks together. I continued to read, but after a few minutes of listening to this, I stopped and said to myself, “What the heck are they doing up there?!”

Curiosity finally got the better of me and I started to walk up the trail toward the sound. As I approached the sound I realized it was actually up above me, and I looked up to see a beautiful woodpecker with bright red feathers on his head! He was clinging to the side of an old tree and picking at it.

Every time I see wildlife when I am at my spot in the woods I always feel like Jesus put it there for me to enjoy, so I said, “Thanks for this, Jesus! This is really cool!” I stood there and enjoyed it for a few minutes. As I looked up into the tree, the thought occurred to me, “Man, it is amazing that the woodpecker knows where to find bugs in the trees. How do they know that …” and I stopped short. A light went on in my head: “Look at the birds of the air … they do not store food in barns …” I prayed, “Jesus, are you proving it to me right now?” And He said, “Yep.” So I replied, with a smile, “Well, it’s not exactly what I had in mind, but it’s pretty cool.”

How do you view your money? Do you find yourself constantly worrying about whether or not you will have enough? God accepts you in the middle of your worry, but He loves you too much to let you stay there. Even in my worry and distrust, He is so gentle and so full of grace, while still teaching me as I listen to Him.

As I walked down the mountainside to my car, I came across another bird that stood in the middle of the trail, then flew off. Then another. And another. As I approached my car, I couldn’t help but smile and feel completely loved and taken care of by my Father.

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